Swedish cinemas launch feminist movie rating

[cui bono]

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- You expect movie ratings to tell you whether a film contains nudity, sex, profanity or violence. Now movie theaters in equality-minded Sweden are introducing a new rating to highlight gender bias, or rather the absence of it.

To get an "A" rating, a movie must pass the so-called Bechdel test, which means it must have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.

"The entire `Lord of the Rings' trilogy, all `Star Wars' movies, `The Social Network,' `Pulp Fiction' and all but one of the `Harry Potter' movies fail this test," said Ellen Tejle, the director of Bio Rio, an art-house movie theater in Stockholm's trendy Sodermalm district.

Bio Rio is one of four Swedish movie theaters that launched the new rating last month to draw attention to how few movies pass. Most visitors have reacted positively to the initiative "and for some people it has been an eye-opener," said Tejle, reclining in one of Bio Rio's cushy red seats.

Beliefs about women's roles in society are influenced by the fact that movie watchers rarely see "a female superhero or a female professor or person who makes it through exciting challenges and masters them," Tejle said, noting that the rating doesn't say anything about the quality of the film. "The goal is to see more female stories and perspectives on cinema screens."

more... http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SWEDEN_FEMINIST_MOVIE_RATING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-11-06-05-42-17

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The Bechdel Test comes from Alison Bechdel's comic strip The Rule:

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/zizyphus/34585797/lightbox/


To read more about the Bechdel Test:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test

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US movie theaters would be pretty empty if they used this test for all movies they show.

[cui bono]

1. 10 Famous Films That Surprisingly Fail The Bechdel Test

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/10-famous-films-that-surprisingly-fail-the-bechdel-test.php

This one surprised me. I've been meaning to watch this again because I loved it when I saw it in the theater. I will definitely watch it again now with this in mind.

1. Run Lola Run

Despite Lola being considered one of the most well-rounded female characters ever put to film, Run Lola Run still fails The Bechdal Test for one simple reason – Lola never has a conversation with another female at any point in the movie. She talks to her father, her boyfriend, the security guard at her father’s bank…and not a single woman.

[el_bryanto]

2. I'd kind of give Run Lola Run a pass because of the compressed narrative though

The rest of those are't that surprising actually.

Bryant

[cui bono]

3. Yeah, sadly not surprising at all. n/t

[FSogol]

5. Wouldn't Gravity fail that test too? It is an interesting test, but not the end all

of determining strong female protagonists.

[cui bono]

8. Yeah, there's definitely films that even though they present a good female character/role model

wouldn't make it, unfairly. Which proves there's always exceptions to the rule. It's mostly for raising awareness though.

It is an eye-opener to those who have never thought about it. It's so commonplace in big Hollywood movies for the women to just be ornamental or a side note that no one considers it very much. I'm glad the Swedish cinemas that are employing this are doing it.

[theHandpuppet]

4. Interesting. I would appreciate such a rating.

Perhaps it will serve as a reminder about how women are objectified in way too many films. Their characters are important only as reflections for male characters and are invisible as fully realized people unto themselves.

[cui bono]

7. Absolutely.

And oddly enough, the one very established female action movie director, Kathryn Bigelow, doesn't make films with female protagonists.

Here's a site with a list of movies that people have submitted:
http://bechdeltest.com/

[geek tragedy]

6. Very thought provoking nt